BOOKPATHS

David L. Ulin walks in “Holden Caulfield’s footsteps through Manhattan.”

David L. Ulin walks in “Holden Caulfield’s footsteps through Manhattan.”

You can walk Holden's Manhattan in one long afternoon, starting at Penn Station (or perhaps I should say the new Penn Station) and working your way north up Broadway through the theater district to the park. From there, you can check on the ducks in the lagoon, then wander over to the museums, before heading south, past the Central Park Zoo, and down through midtown to Grand Central Station. There are a few hidden landmarks, but for the most part, it's a city saunter, New York as New Yorkers know it, an insider's take on the streets. – from “Walking in Holden Caulfield’s Footsteps through Manhattan,” The Los Angeles Times

El Monte, California, U.S.

Two writers, Salvador Plascencia and Michael Jaime-Becerra, “share a city and common inspiration: El Monte.”

But the El Monte that haunts and graces the fiction of Jaime-Becerra and Plascencia, who both grew up there, is no Hollywood film noir backdrop or comic punch line. It's a mutating, multilayered city of 120,000 that in certain moods and times of day can feel like a patch of rural Jalisco or Guerrero grafted onto the L.A. megalopolis. – from “Writers Salvador Plascencia and Michael Jaime-Becerra Share a City and Common Inspirtaion: El Monte,” by Reed Johnson, The Los Angeles Times

 

Guinea Book List

King, Adele. Rereading Camara Laye (2002)

King, Adele. The writings of Camara Laye (1980)

Klein, Martin. Slavery and colonial rule in French West Africa (1998) (in part)

Laye, Camara. The dark child: the autobiography of an African boy (1954)

Laye, Camara. A dream of Africa (1968)

Laye, Camara. The radiance of the king (1956)

Lee, Sonia. Camara Laye (1984)

Manning, Patrick. Francophone Sub-Saharan Africa, 1880-1995 (1998)

Sassine, Williams. Wirriyamu (1976)

May 2010 Literary Events

To read a writer is for me not merely to get an idea of what he says, but to go off with him and travel in his company. -- Andre Gide

Argentina

Buenos Aires International Book Fair
April 22-May 10, 2010
Buenos Aires, Argentina
http://www.el-libro.org.ar/

Australia

Sydney Writers’ Festival
May 15-23, 2010
Sydney
http://www.swf.org.au/

The 2010 Sydney Writers' Festival celebrates the year's literature and welcomes the writers, both local and international, who have produced it. We are proud this year to bring to you a galaxy of writers who will excite, inspire, inform and, perhaps, even enrage you. Many of these writers are well known names, others you will be meeting for the first time. All of them have important things to say.

Bayside Literary Festival 2010
May 21-28, 2010
Bayside
http://www.bayside.vic.gov.au/literary_festival_2010.htm

Czech Republic

Book World Prague
16th International Book Fair and Literary Festival
May 13-16, 2010
Prague
http://www.bookworld.cz/en/menu/general-info/

England

The Life and Times of Paddington Bear
Museum of Reading
Through July 4, 2010
http://www.readingmuseum.org.uk/news/exhibitions.asp

Celebrating the famous bear from 'Darkest Peru' and his creator, Michael Bond, who spent his childhood in Reading. This exhibition tells the story from the very first book 'A Bear Called Paddington', published in 1958, to the most recent title in the series 'Paddington: Here and Now', published in 2008 - exactly fifty years later.

Stratford Literary Festival
April 25-May 3, 2010
Stratford-Upon-Avon
http://www.stratfordliteraryfestival.co.uk/

A feast of author events, workshops and panel discussions, events for young people and children, exhibitions and advice of getting published.

St. Ives Literature Festival
May 1-8, 2010
St. Ives, Cornwall
http://www.stiveslitfest.co.uk/

There will be a host of events each day during the eight days of the festival - readings, talks, workshops and performance.

Swindon Festival of Literature 2010
May 3-15, 2010
Swindon, Wiltshire
http://www.swindonfestivalofliterature.co.uk/contact.html

In its attempt to hook you, this year’s Swindon Festival of Literature offers entertainment, exploration, and ideas galore. It includes novelists, poets, politicians, philosophers, scientists, storytellers, sportsmen, historians, comedians, artists, and activists.

Lincoln Book Festival
May 12-16, 2010
Lincoln
http://www.visitlincolnshire.com/site/events/lincoln-book-festival

The festival attracts local, national and international writers and artists and celebrates both historical and contemporary works of art spanning from Lincolnshire’s past with the Magna Carta and Tennyson, to new writing. This richness has ensured the public have access to a wide range of authors and experiences and helps them to engage with reading and writing in many non-traditional ways.

Daphne du Maurier Festival
Fowey, Cornwall
May 13-22, 2010
http://www.dumaurierfestival.co.uk/

The 2009 Festival received many, many compliments about the variety and quality of events in the programme, its gorgeous location in Cornwall, the superb community events and the friendly, welcoming atmosphere throughout.  It's no wonder that, last year, the Oldie magazine put the Du Maurier Festival as the 'second best Festival in Britain' - which of course, means that it's the Best Festival in England - with 'Hay' being over the Welsh border!

The Charleston Festival
May 21-30, 2010
Firle, Lewes, East Sussex
http://www.charleston.org.uk/charlestonfestival/

Celebrate 21 years of the Charleston Festival, 1990-2010.

Estonia

Tartu International Literature Festival Prima Vista 2010
May 6-8, 2010 in Tartu
May 9, 2010 in Põltsamaa
http://www.visitestonia.com/en/tartu-international-literature-festival-prima-vista-2010

The festival features guests from abroad as well as several Estonian writers.

Italy

The Salone Internazionale del Libro di Torino
May 13-17, 2010
Turin
http://en.salonelibro.it/salone/about-us.html

Its strength is founded on three well-balanced identities. The Turin Salone is, in fact, an important commercial showcase, an immense bookshop and a cultural festival all in one.

New Zealand

Auckland Writers & Readers Festival
May 12-16, 2010
Auckland
http://writersfestival.co.nz/

A ‘world-class festival of ideas and literature’, the Auckland Writers & Readers Festival celebrates its tenth anniversary in 2010. The Festival is a highlight of New Zealand’s cultural calendar and an iconic Auckland event. It brings together acclaimed writers and thousands of readers and thinkers through innovative programming.

Nigeria

Nigeria International Book Fair
May 10-15, 2010
Lagos, Nigeria
http://www.nibf.org/

NIBF 2010 International Conference will focus on: Publishing, Education and the Global Economic Trend. The aim of the Conference is to examining the roles publishing and education can play to impact positively on the subsisting global economic trend.

Norway

Norwegian Literature Festival (Norsk Litteraturfestival)
May 25-30, 2010
Lillehammer, Norway
http://www.litteraturfestivalen.no/

The Norwegian Festival of Literature is the largest literature festival in the Nordic countries. Its main focus is Norwegian contemporary literature and the interaction between literature and society.

Scotland

Word - University of Aberdeen Writers Festival
May 14-16, 2010
University of Aberdeen
http://www.abdn.ac.uk/word/

Featuring writers from England, Ireland, and Wales, Italy, Poland and Spain, Australia, Guatemala and Sierra Leone, alongside up-coming and well-known Scottish talent, there is something here for everyone - guaranteed!

South Africa

Franschhoek Literary Festival
May 14-16, 2010
Franschhoek
http://www.flf.co.za/

The Franschhoek Literary Festival : Fourth Edition will hit the streets of this Winelands village starting on Friday 14 May, with another gathering of writers, editors, publishers, readers and assorted book fans who will be deep in various conversations until sunset on Sunday 16 May.

Wales

The Guardian Hay Festival Hay-on-Wye
May 27-June 6, 2010
Hay-on-Wye, Wales
http://www.hayfestival.com/wales/index.aspx?skinid=2

The place to be if you’re interested in the world and people, in love and death, in what is the best thing to do and how to be happy….

United States

Children's Book Week
The Children's Book Council
May 10-16, 2010
http://www.bookweekonline.com/

Since 1919, Children's Book Week has been celebrated nationally in schools, libraries, bookstores, clubs, private homes -- any place where there are children and books. Educators, librarians, booksellers, and families have celebrated children's books and the love of reading with storytelling, parties, author and illustrator appearances, and other book-related events.

California

Ojai Storytelling Festival
April 29-May 2, 2010
Ojai
http://www.villageoftales.org/index.html

The Topa Topa peaks tower in the distance. Fragrant orange blossoms fill the air. A canopy of majestic oaks reaches overhead. Downtown Ojai welcomes visitors to its charming shops, galleries and cafes. The setting for the 11th Annual Ojai Storytelling Festival offers captivating performances for all ages and is truly magical.

Women’s Literary Festival
May 1, 2010
Fess Parker’s Double Tree Resort, Santa Barbara
http://www.womensliteraryfestival.com/

The mission of the Women’s Literary Festival is to present the
work of contemporary female authors from a variety of back-
grounds and life experiences at a yearly conference. The Festival
celebrates diversity, literacy and social justice.

Bay Area Storytelling Festival
May 22-23, 2010
Kennedy Grove Regional Recreation Area, El Sobrante
http://www.bayareastorytelling.org/

For 25 years, the Bay Area Storytelling Festival has brought the finest storytelling to the  San Francisco Bay Area. Every May, stories whisper and shout through the East Bay hills, alive with personal drama, folk and fairy tales, epics and song. Nationally celebrated performers lead you far from home, through laughter and tears, deep into new cultures, and face to face with yourself. Discover the world within the towering trees and rolling hills of Kennedy Grove, just a short drive from the Bay Bridge.

Gold Rush Book Fair
May 15, 2010
Nevada County Fairgrounds, Grass Valley
http://www.goldrushbookfair.com/

The 10th Annual Gold Rush Book Fair will feature distinguished booksellers displaying their old, rare and out-of-print books and ephemera for public sale. All types of material and price ranges are available.

Louisiana

Saints and Sinners: an Alternative Literary Festival
May 13-16, 2010
New Orleans
http://www.sasfest.org/

Michigan

Ann Arbor Book Festival
May 14-16, 2010
Ann Arbor
http://www.aabookfestival.org/

The Ann Arbor Book Festival’s mission is to promote reading, heighten awareness of literacy challenges, and showcase the rich culture of the written word in Michigan and beyond.

Missouri

St. Louis Storytelling Festival
April 28 – May 1, 2010
St. Louis
http://www.umsl.edu/divisions/conted/storyfes/

The St. Louis Storytelling Festival is a FREE event held in early May that has been offered for 30 years to people of all ages in the St. Louis Metropolitan area. Each year, more than 40 regional and 7 featured storytellers and their audiences gather during this four-day event for the telling of tales.

Greater St. Louis Book Fair
April 29-May 2, 2010
St. Louis
http://www.stlouisbookfair.org/

Greater St. Louis Book Fair is one of the nation's oldest, largest and most popular charity book sales. For over 60 years, book lovers and collectors have enjoyed bargain prices on a diverse and quality selection of new, gently-used and rare books. Fair proceeds benefit local non-profit education and literacy programs.

New York

The Sixth Annual PEN World Voices of International Literature
April 26-May 2, 2010
New York City
http://www.pen.org/page.php/prmID/1096

Join us for an exciting week-long celebration of books and writing from around the globe. A stellar line-up of emerging and established authors will take the stage in venues across New York City and several satellite locations from San Francisco to Washington, D.C. Don’t miss this exciting cross-cultural literary exchange, featuring conversations, panels, performances, readings, a translation slam and an all-star Cabaret night!

Millbrook Book Festival
May 15, 2010
Millbrook
http://www.millbrookbookfestival.org/

Plans are in motion for this year’s Millbrook Book Festival with more attention to children and young adults as well as readers of all ages.  Reading is so essential to success, and the authors lined up for the Book Festival are sure to inspire and encourage your children to become avid readers!

BookExpo America
May 25-27, 2010
Jacob K. Javits Center, New York City
http://www.bookexpoamerica.com/

From the digital revolution to a new business model, the book industry is changing rapidly and BEA is changing, too. This year, in response to your suggestions and needs, we’re offering more than ever before: more content, more events, more titles and authors—and all that means even more buzz.

Ohio

Spring Literary Festival
May 5-7, 2010
Athens, Ohio
http://www.english.ohiou.edu/sp/litfest/

The Spring Literary Festival is always free and open to the public. We invite you to join us.

Ohioana Book Festival
May 8, 2010
Columbus
http://www.ohioanabookfestival.org/

Texas

National Black Book Festival
May 21-23, 2010
Crowne Plaza Hotel, Houston
http://www.nationalblackbookfestival.com/

The National Black Book Festival (NBBF) is an annual event, sponsored by Cushcity.com, the world's largest African-American retailer online.  The event attracts a wide array of authors, publishers, book clubs, libraries and individual readers from the Southwest U.S. and nationwide.

Virginia

Malice Domestic
April 30-May 3, 2010
Arlington
http://www.malicedomestic.org/aboutmalice.html

Established in 1989, Malice Domestic® is an annual 'fun fan' convention in metropolitan Washington, D.C., saluting the traditional mystery—books best typified by the works of Agatha Christie.

Washington

Skagit River Poetry Festival
May 20-22, 2010
La Conner
http://www.skagitriverpoetry.org/

The Skagit River Poetry Project’s mission is to bring together students, teachers, poets and community to celebrate diverse poetic voices in our rural Northwest community.

Read books. They are good for us. -- Natalie Goldberg

Earth

Alan Weisman, author of The World Without Us, wonders if the Earth is striking back.

Both Iceland and the United States exalt democracy as a social achievement worthy of lasting an eternity. Yet the latter's unprecedented strength has derived not just from enlightened government, but from the release of its own hot clouds: exhaust from its vast industries, fleets and mechanized agriculture. – from “Is the Earth Striking Back?,” by Alan Weisman, CNN Website

Ghana Book List

Ahiagble, Gilbert. Master weaver from Ghana (1998)

Agawu, Kofi. African rhythm: a Northern Ewe perspective (1995)

Aidoo, Ama Ata. Changes: a love story (1993)

Aidoo, Ama Ata. No sweetness here and other stories (1995)

Aidoo, Ama Ata. Our sister Killjoy: or, reflections from a black-eyed squint (1977)

Aidoo, Kofi. Of men and ghosts (1994)

Angelou, Maya. Kofi and his magic (1996)

Armah, Ayi Kwei. The beautyful ones are not yet born (1988)

Armah, Ayi Kwei. Fragments (1970)

Armah, Ayi Kwei. Two thousand seasons (2000)

Armah, Ayi Kwei. Why are we so blest? A novel (1972)

Awooner, Koi. Comes the voyager at last: a tale of return to Africa (1992)

Awoonor, Kofi. Ghana: a political history from pre-European to modern times (1990)

Awoonor, Kofi. The Ghana revolution: background account from a personal perspective (1984)

Awoonor, Kofi. Messages: poems from Ghana (1971)

Awoonor, Kofi. Night of my blood (1971)

Awoonor, Kofi. This earth, my brother (1971)

Awoonor, Kofi. Until the morning after: selected poems, 1963-85 (1987)

Bailey, Anne C. African voices of the Atlantic slave trade: beyond the silence and the shame (2005)

Bebey, Francis. The Ashanti doll (1977)

Belcher, Wendy Laura.  Honey from the lion: an African journey (1988)

Blackwood, Yvonne. Into Africa : a personal journey (2000) (in part)

Boateng, Yaw M. The return (1977)

Busia, Akosua. The seasons of Beento Blackbird: a novel (1996)

Chernoff, John M. Hustling is not stealing: stories of an African bar girl (2003) (in part)

Darko, Amma. Beyond the horizon (1995)

Darko, Amma. The housemaid (1998)

Darko, Amma. Not without flowers (2007)

Davidson, Basil.  Ghana: an African portrait (1976)

DeCorse, Christopher R. An archaeology of Elmina: Africans and Europeans on the Gold Coast, 1400-1900 (2001)

Djoleto, Amu. Hurricane of dust (1988)

Djoleto, Amu. Money galore (1975)

Edgerton, Robert B. The fall of the Asante Empire: the hundred-year war for Africa’s Gold Coast (1995)

Ephirim-Donkor, Anthony. African spirituality: on becoming ancestors (1997)

Eshun, Ekow. Black gold of the sun: searching for home in England and Africa (2005)

Gocking, Roger S. The history of Ghana (2005)

Hafner, Dorinda.  I was never here and this never happened: tasty bits and spicy tales from my life (1996)

Hartman, Saidiya V. Lose your mother: a journey along the Atlantic slave route (2007)

Herbst, Jeffrey. The politics of reform in Ghana, 1982-1991 (1993)

Herbstein, Manu. Ama: a story of the Atlantic slave trade (2004)

Horne, Naana Banyiwa. Sunkwa: clingings onto life (1999)

Horne, Naana Banylwa. Sunkwa revisited: poems (2007)

Jahoda, Gustav. White man: a study of the attitudes of Africans to Europeans in Ghana before independence (1983)

Kayper-Mensah. A. W. The drummer in our time (1975)

Kwakye, Benjamin. The clothes of nakedness (1998)

Laing, B. Kojo. Search sweet country (1986)

Laurence, Margaret. This side Jordan (1960)

Laurence, Margaret. The tomorrow-tamer (1964)

Meisler, Stanley. Kofi Annan: a man of peace in a world of war (2008)

Musgrove, Margaret. The spider weaver: a legend of Kente Cloth (2001) (children 4-8)

Neville, C. J. Salifu, the detective (1950)

Nkrumah, Kwame. Dark days in Ghana (1968)

Nkrumah, Swame. Ghana: the autobiography of Kwame Nkrumah (1957)

Odamtten, Vincent O. The art of Ama Ata Aidoo: polylectics and reading against neocolonialism (1994)

Owusu-Ansah, David. Historical dictionary of Ghana (2005)

Owusu, Martin. The sudden return, and other plays (1973)

Priebe, Richard K., editor. Ghanaian literatures (1988)

Quartey, Kwei. Wife of the gods: a novel (2009)

Sutherland, Efua. Edufa (1967)

Sutherland, Efua. Foriwa (1962)

Sutherland, Efua. The marriage of Anansewa (1975)

Thomas, Audrey. Blown figures (1975)

Wilson, Alexandra, editor. The bead is constant (2003)

Sweden

John Blake considers Stieg Larsson, “the man behind The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo."

The righteous indignation that runs through Larsson's trilogy -- anger at men who brutalize women, disdain for corrupt industrialists and hate groups -- comes from Larsson's own political activism, [Barry] Forshaw said.

‘He was a man who thought the world could be better,’ Forshaw said. – from “The Man Behind The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo,” by John Blake, CNN Website

Israel; Palestine

Kai Bird talks about his latest book, Crossing Mandelbaum Gate, a description of  “his experience ‘coming of age between the Arabs and Israelis.’”

‘I don't think it's rocket science to understand what should happen and what eventually will happen between the Palestinians and the Israelis,’ he says. ‘It's a very small place ... Eventually these two people are going to have to live with each other.’ – from “Kai Bird’s Gate: One Foot in Israel, One in Palestine,” NPR Website

The Life and Times of Paddington Bear, Museum of Reading, Berkshire, England

The Life and Times of Paddington Bear is on exhibition at the Museum of Reading through July 4, 2010.

Celebrating the famous bear from 'Darkest Peru' and his creator, Michael Bond, who spent his childhood in Reading. This exhibition tells the story from the very first book 'A Bear Called Paddington', published in 1958, to the most recent title in the series 'Paddington: Here and Now', published in 2008 - exactly fifty years later. – Museum of Reading Website

Gambia Book List

Bâ, Miriama. So long a letter (1982)

Barlow, Clive. A field guide to birds of the Gambia and Senegal (2005)

Davidson, Basil. A history of West Africa, 1000-1800 (1977)

Dibba, Ebou. Alhaji (1992) (in part)

Dibba, Ebou. Chaff on the wind (1986)

Ebron, Paulla A. Performing Africa (2002)

Grey-Johnson, Nana. Children of the spyglass (1995)

Grey-Johnson, Nana. I of ebony (1999)

Grey-Johnson, Nana. Krio engagement and other stories (1987)

Grey-Johnson, Nana. The magic calabash (1998)

Haley, Alex. Roots: the saga of an American family  (1976) (in part)

Hudson, Mark. Our grandmothers’ drums: a portrait of rural African life and culture (1990)

Hughes, A. and D. Perfect. A political history of Gambia, 1816-1994 (2006)

Hughes, Arnold and Harry A. Gailey. Historical dictionary of the Gambia (1999)

Lindberg, Anne Morrow.  Listen! The wind (1938) (in part)

Magel, Emil A. Folktales from the Gambia: Wolof fictional narratives (1984)

Peters, Lenrie. Selected poetry (1981)

Sallah, Tijan M. Dream kingdom: new and selected poems (2007)

Sallah, Tijan M. Dreams of dusty roads: new poems (1993)

Sallah, Tijan M. Kora Land: poems (1989)

Singhateh, Sally Sadie. The sun will soon shine (2004)